Sharon showed me her noticably thin shanked ring. I pointed out that it allowed the upper part of the ring to bend, and the settings to open up a bit under stress.

This would explain the dropped diamonds. I could see that two of her prongs had been re-built, but the real problem remained. I said we needed to support the prongs with a wider and thicker shank. We needed to do a re-shank job.

What Thicker Shanks Do

Thicker shanks are stronger and provide better support for the crown – the top part – of the ring. Thicker shanks don’t bend like thin ones. They hold the shape of the ring, like the foundation holds the parts of a building together.

Thick Shanked Ring

Re-Shanking Your Thin or Cracked Shank

Re-Shanking rings is a relatively straightforward process. The old thin shank is cut away with a saw and a new, thicker and wider section is custom made and soldered into its place.

Take out the old. Put in the new! This is such a satisfying repair job to do. It makes such a difference to the ring and adds to it longer life.

Sharon’s Happy Result

We re-shanked Sharon’s antique diamond prong-set ring three years ago. We also replaced the new blingy diamonds with older Antique diamonds to match her original ones.

She’s worn it daily and all the diamonds are still in their settings! This was a much less expensive solution than she had anticipated. She was referred to me because she had been planning to make a new diamond ring to replace her diamond-dropping ring.

Do it Before it Breaks

A thinner shank weakens your ring and opens the door to cracking and weakness developing throughout your ring. Don’t wait till a gemstone falls out, or your ring bends like a pretzel. Look at it; think about your lifestyle, if you’re active you may need a thicker shank than your Grandmother. No maybes about it!

If your ring shank is too thin, get it fixed before it gets you into trouble. Getting pinched by your cracked ring or trapped in your bent-out-of-shape ring is no laughing matter.

How Much Does Re-Shanking Cost?

Trina’s Wedding Set Bent and Weakened so we Re-Shanked her Wedding Set

Each ring is different, but if I’m looking at an average, I’d say you can spend between $125.00 and $400.00 on a new shank for your ring.

This would include the engraving and design being duplicated. Your re-shanked ring should look like very nice and not like it had work done on it.

In some older rings there may be a detectable change in metal color if you look closely.

Re-Shanking Can Give New Life to Your Older Ring

Many a cracked, bent, broken and sawed-off ring have I saved, with re-shanking. It remains one of my favorite repair jobs to this day. Do you have a candidate for re-shanking gathering dust in your jewelry box?

Thank you for your funny comment! Re-shanking is one of my favorite repairs because it just saves the ring. I’m glad you came to the blog.

Abraham November 23rd, 2011 at 12:01 pm

How thick should the shank be in your opinion? Should 3 mm in thickness (I dont mean width of the band of the shank but I mean if you were to look at it from the side and determine that thickness) on a 14k gold ring be sufficient enough to hold a genuine ruby on top of a mans square set ring?

Abraham, you ask a good question. For a man’s ring 3mm is a sturdy depth. The depth of 2mm might also be strong enough for your purpose. Some people don’t like too much depth feel on the bottom of their rings. So 2.5 mm depth is usually the most I’m asked for from a comfort standpoint.
Calla Gold

ivan March 5th, 2013 at 6:10 pm

Thanks so much for this blog post on ring re-shanking. I wonder if you give me an idea of what I could/should expect to pay to have a sterling silver ring (with diamonds) re-shanked (wider shank on bottom of ring)?
Thanks so much.

Hi, I have my Grandmother’s old wedding ring. I want to use this as a shank for my other ring. both rings are 14 carrot white gold. Can this be done. I bought the original ring at Beldon Jeweler’s and brought it to them. She said that they “might” be able to do this repair, but she didn’t think so because the quality of my Grandmother’s ring might be too porous. Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Joyce

Julie September 16th, 2013 at 8:09 am

Hi, I have a gent’s 9ct onyx signet ring, which has been caught at the top where the onyx is set and has cracked and has also worn very thin. The ring is inexpensive but sentimental. I am wondering whether the stone can either be reset or if the ring is thin all over it can still be re-shanked and hold the onyx safely?

Dear Julie,
I personally think that sentimental value is worth more than the price tag on a ring. I’ve fixed many older men’s rings. Sometimes I need to re-shank and add gold the top.
Having a new thicker shank gives stability to the top portion of the ring.
I have emailed you as well and look forward to working with you.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Rob October 16th, 2013 at 4:56 am

Does re-shanking a ring devalue the price of the ring at the resale level?

Rob,
I have done re-shanking for estate dealers as well as people who have worn the backs of their rings thin through wear. I am not an appraiser, so my answer is not the be all end all answer. Re-shanking is not a visible repair, like sizing you cannot tell it was done when done properly. It is a part of a ring’s life maintenance.
In my opinion it improves the ring, as a ring that is too thin is not supporting the entire design and can allow yawing to happen in the top design portion that can lead to cracking and weakness above.
I believe that re-shanking does not harm the value of a ring for re-sale.
Calla Gold

Cindy Snider February 7th, 2014 at 6:48 pm

I have an antique ring that needs re-shanked, how much would it cost?? It is white gold multi diamond ring that I gave to my daughter, and she wore it till the band split. All of the diamonds are still in tact.

Hello Cindy,
Thank you for coming by my blog and inquiring about a re-shank project.
I’m afraid that asking how much it costs to re-shank a ring is like asking how much a one carat diamond is. With a diamond there is shape, cut, color and clarity. Each detail changes the price.
With rings the factors that go into pricing include; the design, age of the metal, style of the ring, depth and width of the finished re-shank. Generally my re-shank clients bring me their ring or ship it to me to determine a price.
Are you in the Santa Barbara area?
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla Gold

Heather February 8th, 2015 at 7:31 pm

I have ring that needs to be places or reset into different band as I am allergic to what band came with it, it’s cz and blue topaz. I wonder to take out stones buy new band to have this reset what I may be looking at ? I basically need new band in white gold. I can send pic of ring now to you to see

Dear Calla, I spoke with you on the phone today about my wedding rings- I am sadly divorcing and need to sell it, so looking for a) appraisal and b) shank repair estimates. Attached in my email to you are various pics and the diamond’s 2003 Summation of Appraisal card. In 2003, we paid Jared Galleria of Jewelry: $1700 for the band set (with a $1700 insurance replacement certificate) $650 for the main diamond. I would love to know what you think of resale value I might get. I’m thinking also of having it re-shanked before trying to sell. Should I re-shank 1/4 or 1/2 of the shank?

Dear Lindy,
I would use the appraisal form that Jared gave you. It has the information anyone buying it would want. Do not spend money re-appraising it. You won’t get it back.
I also would not reshank your rings. Yes they are a bit thin on the bottom, but not near the red zone in any way.
Because the center diamond is not over a carat this is harder to sell. It isn’t anything I’d buy, I just buy carat and above diamonds and gold for melt.
I’d say clean and polish them if needed and then market them via Craig’s list or people you know.
I’m sorry I haven’t any great ideas other than to save money by not investing more in anticipation of getting more for them. In my experience no one pays extra for re-shanking or fresh appraisals especially on smaller diamond rings.
I’d try to sell them as they are, just cleaned up. They are pretty just the way they are.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Thanks for the email Calla! It is kind of you to take the time. A friend of mine let me contact their family’s diamond broker in downtown LA jewelry district this morning and I paid him a visit. He gave me a complimentary appraisal and said $500 if he buys it from me ($100 for gold, $400 for the diamonds), or maybe I could get $1,000 on the private market, maybe $1,100 with my Jared Galleria diamond repair plan active on the ring. I’ll try to sell on Craigslist first, but will not spend money re-shanking. Thank you so much for taking time to give me good advice. Times like these I am grateful for angels who help me through! 🙂

My best to you,
Lindy

Hunter April 13th, 2015 at 12:03 am

Good article Calla, answered my Google query perfectly.
For those considering whether to reshank their rings:
I am a metal detectorist, and can say that probably 40% of rings I find have thin and broken shanks.

Hello Hunter,
What a unique perspective you must have. That is so interesting that 40% of rings you find had thin or broken shanks.
I visited a client of mine last week. She had a split shank design and it had cracked so she took it off and called me. When I came over and inspected the ring. When the shank had broken it effected the top of the ring. Two prongs out of six were broken. I told her she could have lost her diamond. Later in our appointment she was picking up her ring and the main diamond did fall out. She was so smart to take it off the minute she realized there was a problem. I figured the collision that broke the two prongs also caused the shank to break. Once the shank was broken the top of the ring didn’t have the support it needed.
Needless to say I will be doing some work. She’d worn the ring for 30 years and the surrounding unbroken prongs were very weak and worn, so it wouldn’t have taken much of a hit for this to happen. She recalled no hit to the ring. Which is very normal.
Her ring could have ended up being found by someone like you in a different circumstance. Happily her over a carat diamond is safe and she merely had a scare and not a loss.
Re-shanking your ring does much to keep whole the integrity of the settings for your diamonds and gemstones.
Thanks for sharing your statistics Hunter!
Your Re-Shanking Jeweler,
Calla Gold

Why would the shank on a platinum ring crack if it is not misshapen or thin as you have previously described? The ring has not been resized to my knowledge although after a stone was reset the ring I received back although identical was not mine as it was too small! I wonder if it was resized without my knowledge?

Hi Linda,
My jeweler detective antenae are quivering. That’s a proper mystery you have on your hands. That is indeed odd that your ring is now too small after the re-setting of your gemstone. I wish I knew why that happened, but I do not.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

paula mason-reeves May 1st, 2015 at 10:03 am

I really need to find a jeweler to duplicate the head on my ring. I’m worried for my diamond because two of my prongs are worn. The other two prongs have been re-tipped in the past and one of the re-tips appears to be cracking at the connection point.
I love the design and the heads I’m being offered are pre-made and lack the design flair of my original design. If I use one of these heads which it has been pointed out to me would fit just fine, the character of my ring will be forever altered.
It is a designed head from 30 or 40 years ago and no one makes it now.

Dear Paula,
Do you have a custom jeweler in your town?
If not is this something you would ship to get done?
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Francine May 8th, 2015 at 6:22 pm

I just had a crack in my class ring fixed. The jewelers suggested I be very careful as they say there are many solder marks (it has been repaired before) and they think it will crack again and not be able to be repaired again? It’s gold?! Is there a limit to reshanking or resizing?

Hi Francine,
I’m pleased that you’ve had your class ring repaired. I’m sharing with you a bit about open flame soldering which is the typical method for repairing gold rings, and other metals for that matter. It addresses previous work and the concern that jewelers would have:
“Soldering is the process of joining two pieces of heated metal together with a similar metal (i.e., the “solder.”) The solder is a small piece of metal that has a lower melting point than your jewelry piece, which is typically heated with a torch until the solder flows. Many pieces of jewelry have beautifully invisible solder seams—also called “joints”— and these solder joints can be undone if too high a heat is applied in later jewelry repairs.” From Chapter 8 – All About Soldering and Welding: Open Flame vs Laser in my upcoming book, “How to Talk to Your Jeweler About Rings.”
Now that you’ve read this and know that open flame solder has the potential to undue previous solder joints, know that there is a new kid in town to consider when repairing your ring. That new kid technique is laser welding.
See more about this technique in my blog post:http://www.callagold.com/jewelry-repair/how-laser-ring-soldering-fixes-fragile-and-unfixable-rings/
My guess is that your ring can be repaired in the future. You may need to have techniques changed to laser welding to protect previous solder joints, but you should be able to have your ring repaired numerous times in the future.
Gold can be sized and worked many times.
If however your ring shank is thin you should have it re-shanked.
May your class ring give you years of happy wear and memories.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla Gold

emma hughes June 29th, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Hi I have my nans engagement ring which I want to use as my own. How long would it take to fit a new shank and change from 18 ct gold to white gold?

Hi Emma,
That sounds like about a two week to four week turnaround for something like that. It sounds like we’d be taking the diamonds from a yellow gold ring and setting it in a white gold ring.
Sounds like a nice project.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Tom July 23rd, 2015 at 9:16 am

I purchased a heavy gold men’s signet ring many about 20 years ago at a local jewelry store. I had it sized when I bought it. About 5 years ago I took it back to the same store as the band was getting thin. They reshanked the ring.

About two weeks ago about a 1/4 of the band fell off. I noticed it when I was driving. The band broke at he bottom center and a 1/4 way up one side of the ring. The piece that fell out is lost.

Hi Tom,
I’m reading your story and thinking two things, one I’m thinking about metal fatigue and wondering if there was some microbending happening. I’m seriously guessing here. Another thought that occurs is that the work may have been done with laser which can create a less secure weld bond of metals than the open flame solder method that heats the entire connection area.
This is a blog post about laser welding:http://www.callagold.com/jewelry-repair/how-laser-ring-soldering-fixes-fragile-and-unfixable-rings/
It shows open flame soldering and laser welding.
I had a custom ring I made that had a piece that had to be attached after diamond setting. I used laser welding. Unfortunately it broke off within a year. We very carefully open flame soldered it on and it has been on ever since. I realized that the welding connection just wasn’t deep enough for the stress that the piece was getting being a daily wear ring.
I told my client that the design may have been an unsustainable one. She really loved that detail. I told her I took responsibility for her ring and if this hurt the diamonds I’d make a new ring but without that troublesome element. That fact was that the sturdiness of open flame solder was the only thing that’d work. But I risked killing a diamond or two. Once the piece was on I wouldn’t be able to reach the diamonds for re-setting because of the piece over them. Lucky for me the shielding technique we used worked. Yay.
I tell you this because if laser was used to connect the new shank section it could have been a weaker join than if it was open flame soldered.
Now the fact of the middle part breaking away is why I mentioned metal fatigue as the middle of the bottom of a ring is the area that receives the most stress from wear. So perhaps the two places it broke had different stressors.
It is not ideal that this happened, but I appreciate your bringing your unusual story to the blog conversation.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Sarah October 13th, 2015 at 3:42 pm

Is it possible to reshank a plain ring? I can send you a picture of the type of ring if required. It’s not needed yet I just can’t find the answer anywhere

Hi Sarah,
I’m not sure what you mean by a plain ring. I welcome you to send me a picture. Try my callagold@gmail.com email as it doesn’t tend to spam first time senders with images.
I’ll tell you about a guy I helped recently and this may apply to your situation. He had his grandfather’s wedding band and had worn it for about 35 years. It was very thin. It had bent this way and that and finally cracked, so my client wiggled it off and found me on the internet and called me.
This ring was ridiculously thin and in fact had cut into his finger one time and drawn blood. I told him it was too thin to be worn safely. He said I want to wear my grandfather’s ring until I can’t anymore. Well it was at that point. I told him I could make him a new ring slightly wider and inlay his grandfather’s band in it. I’d make it comfort fit so it’d slide on and off easier.
He reluctantly agreed. He’s now wearing it daily and loving it and telling friends how he’d worn it out and it was part of his new ring.
Please send me pictures of your ring and I’ll see what can be done for you.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

amy sustaita January 13th, 2016 at 1:51 pm

Good afternoon, I have a question I am looking into taking small diamonds from one set and would like to buy a 8-10mm gold band and have them inserted into the wide gold band. My question is how thick does the band need to be to support the diamonds?

Hello Amy,
It depends on how deep (the measurement from the top of your diamond to the bottom, pointy part called the culet) is. Another factor is the setting style you’d like to use. If you have small diamonds that you want to kind of sink into the band then the depth of your band must be deep enough to prevent the culet from scratching your finger when you put on and wear your ring.
If you will bezel set (http://www.callagold.com/definition/bezel-setting-jewelry-definition/), the diamonds you have a bit more leeway especially if your bezel settings can pop up slightly from your band. If you plan to prong set them you’ll want to make sure that the band is strong enough to support the prongs, but it doesn’t have to be especially deep since the prongs allow the diamonds to be set on top of the band.
Three millimeters is often as thick as a band can go and still feel comfortable on the hand.
Another option is to have the gold band you want custom made to accommodate your diamonds. Have the setting design cast in. This allows you the option of more complex designs like channel setting, (http://www.callagold.com/definition/channel-setting-style-jewelry-defintion/) or a style that pleases you the most.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Ashlee June 5th, 2016 at 3:52 pm

My antique engagement ring cracked on the bottom middle of the band. Can you tell me if this can be fixed by soldering or should I get it re shanked? It is a platinum antique ring from the 1920s. Thank you.

Hello Ashlee,
That is a good question and one I cannot answer without seeing the profile view of your ring among other views. This post shows the most helpful views you can send and where to send them:http://www.callagold.com/education/how-to-send-ring-pictures-to-your-jeweler-effectively/
If you email me the needed images I’ll respond about your particular ring.
In about 80% of the cases of very old rings cracking at the bottom re-shanking is recommended because they have become too thin to be safely worn.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Nicki sailors August 14th, 2016 at 3:39 pm

I have a couple of rings that need to be repaired. The shanks are thin and the bands are cracked. Can they be fixed if they’re both black hills gold?
Nicki

Hi Nicki,
For the record I have re-shanked and sized Black Hills Gold rings before. I do believe your rings can be fixed. They may need to have laser welding as the technique used to work on them so no damage can occur to the smaller rose gold elements. Back in the days when we only had open flame solder work as our option to size rings a Black Hills Gold ring I was working on had a rose gold leafy element just pop off when the ring was heated. I fixed it, but it made me cautious after that.
Now that laser welding is available I use that to ensure that a ring doesn’t do unexpected things.
Here’s my article about laser welding:http://www.callagold.com/jewelry-repair/how-laser-ring-welding-fixes-fragile-and-unfixable-rings/
If you do not have a local person who can help you with this work you could send me pictures of your rings. This article talks about how pictures can be sent to be most helpful:http://www.callagold.com/education/how-to-send-ring-pictures-to-your-jeweler-effectively/
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

Becca September 2nd, 2016 at 11:03 pm

I have a 10k gold ring that belonged to my late sister, and the band broke. It’s just gold, nothing except her first initial on it. But I’m very short on finances at the moment and desperate to fix it. Would you by any chance be able to give a rough estimate of what it would cost to at least just repair the break? It’s just a small split in the band

Hi Becca,
I’m guessing as I cannot see how wide your ring is. If it is fairly thin it might cost $35.00 to solder it back together. It doesn’t sound like your finances would allow the re-shanking at this time. I’d have it soldered back together, knowing that in the future you’ll want to re-shank it to make it stronger. Worn carefully after the fix 10kt should hold up longer than the same ring in 14kt or 18kt as it has more hardening alloys.
I am sorry that you have lost your sister. That is rough and hurts my heart to think about.
Your Personal Jeweler,
Calla

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Calla Gold is your Personal Jeweler – a true “Jeweler Without Walls” who takes pride in working with clients one-on-one to integrate their personal sense of style and taste into custom designed jewelry and repaired jewelry pieces. Unlike typical Santa Barbara jewelry businesses, Calla Gold has no brick-and-mortar location. Calla Gold comes to you, bringing you the jewelry collection you want to see and collaborating with you to create unique custom jewelry. Santa Barbara Jeweler Calla Gold personally designs jewelry that comes from your story and your heart.

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